


Puppy Queen Teuta Of Baker Street

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Domestic, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Moving In Together, POV Sherlock Holmes, Pets, Poor Molly, Puppies, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sherlock Holmes Has Feelings, Sherlock Holmes and Feelings, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-05-02 09:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5244077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Molly decides to leave Toby at her old home with the new owners when she moves in with Sherlock where he’ll be happiest, Sherlock helps her find someone else to help ease the pain and loneliness of losing a member of her family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puppy Queen Teuta Of Baker Street

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sherlockian_87](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherlockian_87/gifts).



> So my friend ****had a bad day a few days back and asked for some fluffy Sherlolly fic and I was a day (now two, thanks to connectivity problems) late, but I wrote this based on an **otpprompts** prompt (" _Imagine that your OTP got a new puppy that insists on sleeping between them in bed_ "). The picture that I based Teuta off of is [here](http://s22.postimg.org/q73zaa941/Cocker_Spaniel_Puppy.jpg). I hope you enjoy it (and sorry if it is not as fluffy as you had hoped for)!

He had expected that when he asked Molly to move in with him that not everything would be coming over with her. 

However, he had expected that every _one_ would be moved into Baker Street with relative ease.

He did not take into mind just how attached Toby was to his home. When they were in the beginning stages of moving her belongings over, Molly brought him over to Baker Street to get him used to the place, but he’d howl and yowl all night, claw at the door to leave, and make such a racket that Molly stopped bringing him. Sherlock knew she could force the issue, simply leave him at Baker Street in the bedroom they would share until he got used to the place, but if someone accidentally left the door open a moment too long or something of that nature he could be gone in an instant, lost to the streets of Westminster.

Fortunately, Molly knew who she was selling her home to and they had a daughter who adored cats who had taken a liking to Toby, so she felt that leaving him at the home was a good idea. The new tenants said they’d send her updates if she wanted them but she said that was fine. It would be best if it was a clean break.

Sherlock wasn’t altogether sure that was a good idea, to be honest. Toby was to Molly what Redbeard had been to him: family. You don’t simply let family go.

In the end, Sherlock discretely told Toby’s new owners to send updates to him for the time being, in case Molly changed her mind, and the wife seemed to understand. Molly said her final good-byes and then they made their way to a waiting cab with the last of her things packed in the boot and made their way to Baker Street. They were halfway there when he caught the tremor in her lip, two blocks away when there was a sheen of moisture in her eyes, and then just as the cab pulled up the first tear fell and she shook her head. “Oh, Sherlock,” she said, hanging her head. “You must think I’m such a fool, crying over a silly cat.”

He reached over and pulled her into an embrace. He knew their friends were inside, waiting for them. He knew the meter was running, but at the moment, neither of those things were important. He looked over towards the driver. “Do you know of anyone with kittens?” he asked.

The man shook his head. “No, but my brother’s got a pup,” he said. “His wife is a breeder. Had a litter of purebred cocker spaniels. Most of them got snatched up real fast but the runt...no one wants her. They aren’t sure what they’re going to do with her.”

Molly sniffed and pulled away from Sherlock to look at the driver. “What does she look like?” she asked.

The driver gave her a grin. “Well, she’s a beauty,” he said. “I have a picture of my son’s puppy, that looks real close. He got one of the puppies since he helped him out last summer and the runt looks just like her except smaller.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, scrolling through apps until he found his gallery app, and then scrolling through albums and pictures until he found it. “This picture was taken at four months. They’re six months now but the runt’s still just about this big. Maybe a little bigger.”

Sherlock took the phone to get a better view of the picture, sharing his view with Molly. The dog wasn’t tiny but it was small. It had a brown face with bits of tan and black, and its chest and underside and legs were the same. Her head, ears, back and tail were all black, however. He glanced over and saw Molly smile a little, though she still looked sad. “Would you like to go see her?” he asked quietly.

“But I thought you didn’t want another dog,” she said, looking away from the mobile and up at him.

Sherlock handed the mobile back to the cab driver. “There are enough differences between this dog and Redbeard that I think it will be fine,” he said. “Besides, if you like her and she will make you happy, then I find I don’t want to say no to you.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Then I would love to go see her.”

Sherlock leaned back in the seat. “Then go ahead and take us to go see your brother.”

“I’ll do this off the meter, too,” the driver said. Sherlock paid the fare for the trip they had made and then the driver turned the meter off before turning into traffic again. After a while they went out towards the less crowded parts of London, and soon pulled up to a home that had a bit of a yard in the back on the outskirts of the city. The three of them got out and Sherlock and Molly hung back while the driver went to the house to make sure someone was home. A few minutes later he came back with a woman who was holding a small wriggling puppy in her arms. “This is my sister-in-law Amanda,” he said. “And this little runt is Teuta.”

Amanda gave Molly and Sherlock a smile. “We let the children name the puppies when they’re born, and this time it was my oldest son’s turn. He’s in a bit of a pirate phase, so she’s named after the Pirate Queen Teuta Of Illyria, who kicked a lot of Roman arse in...well, a very long time ago,” she explained.

“It must be fate,” Molly said towards Sherlock. She put her arms out hesitantly. “May I?” Amanda nodded, handing the puppy to Molly. Immediately the puppy began enthusiastically licking Molly’s face, barking happily as she did. Molly laughed at that. “She’s so friendly.”

“She’s been socialized very well with the other dogs and with the children,” Amanda said. “We just can’t afford another one permanently, as we have four already that we keep full time. We were trying to figure out a way to balance keeping her as well, if it came down to it.” Amanda reached over and scratched Teuta behind the ears. “But if you check out, I’d gladly be willing to send her home with you. Shall we go inside?”

Sherlock and Molly nodded, and the three of them went inside the home to be interviewed by Amanda. It wasn’t an overly grueling interview, and she allowed Teuta to stay close to Molly the entire time. Sherlock could see she was keeping a close eye on how they interacted with each other. At the end of the interview she decided that they would indeed be a good fit. Normally the puppies would sell for £750, but that was when they were younger and weren’t the runts. They agreed on £500 for the cost, which Molly had seemed to think was extravagant, at least by her expression, but Sherlock had the cab driver take him to his bank and then to a store to pick up the necessary items to transport Teuta to Baker Street, and then they returned to pick Molly and the puppy up before taking them both to their new home.

It was quite interesting showing up with both Molly and a puppy, but Teuta enjoyed being the center of attention, though she generally kept going back to Molly. And Molly kept her close, either letting her lay by her feet or picking her up and letting her lay on her lap. Sherlock could tell she still missed Toby and these actions mirrored what Toby would have done and it seemed to help. While they had company over Sherlock made a quick trip to get puppy food and a few other supplies, and then when it was just him and Molly he let her arrange it so that Teuta had a section of Baker Street all to herself to rest while they unpacked the last of Molly’s things. The puppy got more attention than he did, Sherlock realized, slightly bemused, as they all got settled into the flat.

Eventually, though, it was time for them to retire for the night. He wondered if she was at all nervous about this being her first night in Baker Street with it being _her_ home instead of just _his_ home. They got ready and then made their way to the bed, and once the covers were pulled back they slid underneath and he pulled her close as she snuggled against him. He’d just put his arm around her waist and shut his eyes, nestling his nose in her hair when he heard a whining at the bedroom door and a light scratching. “What on earth—?” he asked.

“I think Teuta wants to join us,” she said, her tone amused. “Let her in?”

He sighed, removing his arm and getting out of bed, grumbling as he made his way to the bedroom door. He opened the door and Teuta shot into the room, bounding up to the bed. After a moment she clambered on and then made her way right to the middle of Molly’s back and made herself comfortable. Sherlock glared. “That’s my spot.”

Molly chuckled, rolling over and scooping Teuta up, scratching her behind the ears. “Why don’t you go get the doggy bed and bring it in here?” she suggested. “We might as well let her sleep in the room. We can start training her tonight that there’s a doggy bed and a human bed.”

He sighed again, beginning to trudge out to the sitting room. “Fine,” he said. He had the sinking suspicion this was going to be the beginning of many long night. He just hoped that having Teuta made Molly happy. If it did, only then would it all be worth it.


End file.
